Trade shows and other large exhibitions are routinely held in large, open building spaces with high ceilings and poor sound quality. Creating an appealing environment in convention halls, stadiums, and other large locations is a challenge. Trade show visitors are prone to walking by exhibits without stopping, only glancing at a company's promotions as they pass by.
Despite these drawbacks, trade shows are increasingly popular amongst marketers for providing a targeted audience. Persons who come to a particular trade show are typically drawn by a serious interest in the trade show subject matter or are industry leaders looking for the next best service or goods. The trade shows typically last for days, and the competition is intense amongst exhibitors. The cost to companies attending the trade shows is also relatively high; consequently, the companies seek to generate as much meaningful contact with visitors as possible to recoup their costs of attendance.
One of the primary concerns of trade show exhibitors is creating an eye-catching display that also draws a visitor in to speak with company representatives. Too much lighting can be distracting or off-putting to weary trade show visitors, whereas dark or overly simple exhibits do not attract attention. Trade show visitors also may seek a place to sit down, but do not want to feel penned in by an exhibit. Quieter settings may also be welcoming to visitors, but a closed room would cut off the energy and action felt from other exhibitors.
In the past, these issues have been addressed through various forms of modular displays and lighting systems. For example, some trade show exhibitors use graphic light boxes. Graphic light boxes typically consist of a framed poster-like back lit sheet. There are many limitations to graphic light boxes. The drawbacks include their set shape and dimensions; their inability to be used for structural purposes to support a live load or other aspects of a display; their inability to be structurally integrated within a larger display, and their resulting physical and visual separation from the other aspects and modules within a display.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a modular system that: 1) can form the structural component of a display and act as the architecture for the display itself, including providing support for live loads if desired; 2) provides unusual dramatic lighted effect to draw the attention of passers by that is not overly bright and off-putting to the casual observer; 3) incorporates continuous lighting into the structural design for overall continuity of a glowing effect to the viewer of the display; 4) accommodates both large and small-scale structures, including structures of varying foot-prints, such as generally rectangular, generally square, asymmetrical, curved and linear footprints; 5) is sufficiently modular to allow the exhibitor to be creative and create a dramatic new look to the display to set the exhibitor apart from the competition; 6) is capable of combining lighting systems with the structural support for elements of a display; and, 7) is not overly complicated for the typical exhibitor to install, dismantle, reconfigure, transport, and maintain.